Thermal stability, thermal expansion and grain-growth in exchange-coupled Fe-Pt-Ag-B bulk nanocomposite magnets

Rare-earth free (RE-free) exchange coupling nanocomposite magnets are intensively studied nowadays due to their potential use in applications demanding stable high-temperature operation and corrosion resistance. In this respect, the FePt alloy system is one of the most actively addressed potential permanent magnet solutions. In FePt alloys, promising magnetic features arise from the co-existence of hard magnetic L1(0) FePt and soft magnetic L1(2) Fe3Pt phases emerged from the same metastable precursor. The present work deals with an in-situ temperature-resolved synchrotron radiation study of the thermal stability, thermal expansion and microstructure evolution in exchange-coupled FePtAgB alloys. The as-cast microstructural state as well as the optimized magnetic behavior are given as reference and correlated to the observed microstructural evolution with temperature. The melt-spun Fe48Pt28Ag6B18 alloy ribbons were examined in situ by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction from ambient temperature up to 600 degrees C. The FePt-Fe3Pt exchange-coupled microstructure achieved by rapid solidification is not significantly altered during the high temperature exposure. The thermal expansion of the FePt L1(0) unit cell has been found to be strongly anisotropic, being essentially an in-plane expansion which may be seen as an anisotropic invar effect. For the FePt L1(0) phase, a significant deviation from linear thermal expansion is observed at the Curie temperature T-C = 477 degrees C. This non-linear behavior above T-C is tentatively linked to a diffusion/segregation mechanism of Ag. The promising hard magnetic properties as well as the direct formation of the L1(0) phase from the as-cast state are directly related to the presence of Ag in the intergranular regions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.